Cold Jet, a world leader in the development of innovative, environmentally responsible, dry ice cleaning and dry ice production solutions, has completed the acquisition of IceTech - and with collective global facilities including the US, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Japan and China, the move will facilitate world-class customer support capabilities anywhere in the world.more

Dozens of contracted airport workers and allies were arrested on Monday at demonstrations in cities throughout the US, as part of a national airport workers' civil disobedience against the injustices and inequality which, says the Service Employees International Union, persist at airports across the country.more

At the Consumer Electronics Show last week, healthcare technology company, Seal Shield, attracted lots of interest with its Sky family of UVC Sanitisers, designed to kill bacteria and viruses on the hard-to-clean consumer electronics that so many of us are now using in our workplaces.more

Tissue World, the leading portfolio of events dedicated to the global tissue paper industry, has released the full conference agenda for Tissue World New Orleans Conference & Exhibition, taking place at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Louisiana, USA from 14th to 17th March, 2016.more

"Our industry is being called upon to step in and help stop the spread of disease at a time when the pharmaceuticals are stepping out," writes Stephen Ashkin, published author and president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specialising in 'greening' the cleaning industry. Here he discusses the whys and wherefores of this statement...more

Facilicom, has opened a new business in Ireland, extending the company's presence across Europe. The exciting development comes after Facilicom won a contract with an American multinational technology company covering cleaning services at its offices in Dublin, London and Paris.more

CCS, a leading provider of commercial janitorial services across the Western US, is to benefit from recapitalisation from private equity firm Silver Oak Services Partners, in partnership with management and co-investors.more

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Cleaners have a lot to put up with, don’t they, what with poor pay, lack of recognition, a disrespectful public, unsocial hours, aches caused by repetitive actions & the knowledge that their hard work is going to be wrecked within a few hours and they’ll have to do it all again tomorrow… But it’s even worse for some…

Poor Juana Raymundo, 36, was going about her work at Ooltewah Middle School in Tennessee one evening, when two police officers mistook her for a burglar and tasered her.

It gets worse… Juana has been charged with evading arrest…

According to the Times Free Press, the police report says the officers entered the school after noticing that an exterior door was open. Inspecting the school with their guns drawn, they spotted cleaning supplies in the hallway before encountering an empty-handed Juana who appeared “nervous and somewhat reserved.”

Juana, who works for a cleaning contractor, has difficulties understanding both English and Spanish.

The officers state that they didn’t point their weapons at Juana as they attempted to question her in English and rudimentary Spanish, saying she kept repeating “no” while backing away, before turning a corner and running away despite being shouted at in Spanish to stay put. They chased her through the cafeteria, down some stairs, out of the building and into the car park where she was warned that unless she stopped, she’d be tasered.

One then tasered her and she fell to the ground. Medics were called and Juana was subsequently charged with evading arrest. She has since been released on $750 bail and is expected back in court on 2nd March.

Unless there’s more to this story than has been reported, this woman has surely gone through enough already. I can’t imagine that she will have felt super secure prior to this, being on her own in a building late into the evening - and to be confronted by two men brandishing guns must have been frightening! I’m wondering whether she was immediately aware that they were police officers or whether she thought that they were intruders about to attack.

Whatever the outcome of her court appearance though, I doubt that she’ll be returning to her job anytime soon – and I can’t say I blame her, can you?

Disgraced or ‘past it’ police officers are often threatened with a ‘desk job’. I think Juana now deserves one!

The results are in and according to cleaning managers across the US, 44% agree that the recession is over, up 5% from last year's results. However, despite this optimism, more are reporting pressure to reduce labour and other operating costs. (Ed: now where have I heard that before?)more

The market for janitorial cleaning chemicals in Europe, which until recently was seen as 'flat to declining', posted modest growth of 1.6%, according to Kline's recently published study 'Janitorial Cleaning Products in Europe: Market Analysis and Opportunities'.

Improving economies, end users' preferences for multipurpose product features, and the need to maintain clean and germ-free facilities contribute to the market's growth.more

Around 60 people - members, potential members, the press and guests from the cleaning industry - gathered in London on Monday for an event that has been hailed a resounding success: the official relaunch of the Cleaning & Support Services Association, 50 years after its initial 'official' launch in 1966.

And while many things about association membership haven't changed, such as the opportunities for networking and friendship it provides, the ability for the industry to speak with one voice and address industry issues collectively rather than as individual companies (i.e. from a position of strength) there are a great many new things planned. more

To create meaningful awareness of the patient safety risks and the economic burden to the US healthcare system of outdated hand hygiene compliance measurement, eight US-based hand-hygiene compliance solution providers have formed an alliance.

EHCO, the Electronic Hand-hygiene Compliance Organisation, aims to lead and influence changes in hand-hygiene measurement policy and guidelines at accreditation organisations, government agencies, health insurers and hospitals.more

In 2015 The Cleaning Masterclass established a partnership with the Institute of Cleaning Sciences & Management - an innovative and ambitious Indian company committed to providing the best in class and a comprehensive knowledge and research capability in the field of cleaning science.

This partnership was born out of a mutual desire to raise the standards of cleaning & hygiene in all the service sectors and provide valuable skills to the unskilled Indian population.more

The Manchester Cleaning Show (6th - 7th April at Event City) is a launch event for 2016 and follows the same exhibition and free conference format of its parent Cleaning Show held in London every two years. The reception to the new, northern spin-off has been remarkable with over 1,000 people registered to attend with just weeks to go.more

The new ST4000 from Steam Clean Systems is reckoned by its makers to be the most powerful boiler-powered dry steam cleaner in Europe. Its mighty 14 litre boiler delivers a massive 42Kg of steam per hour at a pressure of 10bar...

The ST4000's annular boiler is heated by a turbo-powered diesel burner which is so powerful that full pressure is achieved in just eight minutes. The machine is so powerful that it is possible to operate two hoses at full power with no appreciable drop in pressure. The standard hoses are seven metres long but it is possible to have 20 metre versions made to order if required.more

Winter travel and weather-related travel delays often mean that people spend more time indoors in confined spaces, such as in hotels and on public transportation, which can facilitate the spread of illness-causing germs between travellers - especially during cold and flu season.

This increase in the spread of germs means that hotel staff must be prepared to step in with a foolproof cleaning regimen to prevent guests and staff members from becoming ill.more

ISSA and The Building Futures Group have reached agreement to immediately transfer the Industrial Cleaning Machinery Manufacturers Association's (ICMMA) operational management to ISSA's UK membership portfolio, with continued oversight by the group's Secretariat, Hazel Langley.

"We are honoured to welcome ICMMA's members into ISSA's UK family," says Dianna Steinbach, (pictured) ISSA director of EMEA Services. "We see this agreement as another way that ISSA can fulfil our promise to help the commercial cleaning industry increase appreciation of the value it brings - boosting members' business success as a result."more

As from last Monday, Crown Courts and Magistrates Courts in England and Wales have been bound by tough new guidelines when sentencing those who have been convicted of breaking health & safety law. For the first time, courts in England and Wales are required to follow comprehensive sentencing guidelines.

Neal Stone, policy & standards director at the British Safety Council, says of the changes: "We broadly welcome the new guidelines and in particular that in future, three factors will be key in determining fines for health & safety offences: the degree of harm caused, the culpability of the offender, and the turnover of the offending organisation.more

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Jeremy Paxman, speaking in Solihull at the FPA annual Environment Seminar, set the tone for the litter agenda in 2016 by calling on the whole supply chain to take action to tackle the UK's litter crisis or face legislative action.

The ex-BBC Newsnight anchor, speaking in his capacity as patron of the litter campaigning organisation Clean Up Britain (CLUB) said that the UK is at a tipping point in attitudes to litter and that businesses need to collaborate to take action and tackle the problem.more

V-Air Solid, an environmentally-friendly, non-aerosol air freshener from Vectair Systems, has won the 'Best Innovation Award' in the Washroom Hygiene category in the 2016 Clean India Awards - its fourth award since its launch a year ago.

A panel of eight judges, including purchasing director of Reliance Industries & executive housekeeper of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, chose V-Air Solid as the most innovative product for its simplicity, use of new technology and its strong environmental credentials, amongst other factors. more

A few years ago, I wrote an analysis of the facilities management sector as a whole and at that stage my feelings were that the market was still clearly separated into two distinct areas: in-house (corporate management) and outsourced (third party). In my view, the FM market is much more blurred in certain respects and, as such, success requires an ever increasingly diverse range of skills, education and attributes.more

Carrying more than one million passengers and 200,000 passenger vehicles annually, Poole-based Condor Ferries operates a year-round service connecting the UK, the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey and the ports of St Malo and Cherbourg in France.

Mike Mustill, hotel services operations manager, Condor Ferries, called in Kevin Day at Prochem Europe distributor CJS Portsmouth to find a more robust, powerful and faster clean than they were currently achieving.more

The Health & Safety Laboratory's new Machinery Directive course is being held on 24th February 2016 in Buxton, Derbyshire. It will give delegates a thorough understanding of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2009 legislation, (as revised) as well as the key current European and International safety standards that support the Regulations.

Delegates will also be shown how to build a technical file and have the opportunity to practice assessing conformity to the essential health & safety requirements. The purpose and content of a declaration of conformity and incorporation will be explained, along with when to use which.more

Ken Wainwright, of the National Carpet Cleaners Association, writes...

"Murphy's Law states that if anything is to go wrong, then it will happen at the most inconvenient time. It also states that when this happens it will usually be mega expensive and the inconvenience will last for days, if not weeks.

For us carpet cleaners, one of the things that we dread most is a machine breakdown, and this was brought home to me last month when my portable extraction machine had its annual service at the manufacturer's works.more

Clean for The Queen is a campaign designed to encourage those of us who live in the UK to clear up Britain in time for The Queen's 90th birthday on 21st April 2016. It will rally an army of volunteers across the country to clean up their local areas and will include a special clean-up weekend on 4th - 6th March.more

The first Occupational and Environmental Exposure of Skin to Chemicals Conference took place in Washington in 2002. Since then it has occurred every two - three years and has become the premier platform for exchange of new scientific discoveries and practical ideas from all parts of the globe.more

SkyVac, the UK manufacturer of the most powerful high level cleaning equipment, reports that sales are flying high. SkyVac systems have now been adopted for high level cleaning at the UK's largest airports - Gatwick and Heathrow - and equipment orders are arriving from all over the world.more

Although unlike some food establishments those in the city of Oxford are faring rather well, with 86% of establishments boasting a hygiene standard rating of at least four out of five, Ian Wright, Oxford City Council's head of environmental health services, is calling for greater improvements to be made.more

A debate was scheduled to take place in Westminster Hall on the motion: 'This House has considered hand hygiene in the NHS'. The debate was tabled by Nigel Mills MP, who has a keen interest in healthcare and hygiene issues.

"I tabled this debate to request that the Government ensure that proper checks are introduced so that patients can have confidence that everything possible is being done to enforce proper hand hygiene best practice," he said earlier this week.more

And now it has one! The 6th & 7th April 2016 Manchester Cleaning Show will be a long awaited event, held appropriately enough at the modern Event City venue, Manchester.

The much vaunted Northern Powerhouse embodies the same industrial and entrepreneurial spirit that made the North of England into the 'Workshop of the World' more than one hundred and fifty years ago, continuing today with major investment around the Airport, the City Centre and in the surrounding infrastructure.more

Hi Jan, As a regular reader of your excellent publication, I appreciate the publicity you give to matters relating to the provision and cleanliness of 'away from home' toilets.

I started campaigning on this issue many years ago. In 1985 I founded All Mod Cons, which became The British Toilet Association in 1999. I quietly contribute to various influential documents, e.g. I participated in the Global Guidelines for Practical Public Toilet Design in 2011.more

In 2015 the Cleaning & Hygiene Suppliers Association audited more products than has ever been the case, with Scheme members achieving near perfect compliance. Martin Yates, the CHSA's independent inspector, made over 70 visits to Scheme members in 2015, testing over 600 products and almost 1,400 labels for compliance.

With such clear evidence of the impact of the Schemes, Mike Stubbs, chairman of the Accreditation Schemes, is calling on buyers of soft tissue products, plastic refuse sacks and industrial cotton mops to specify Scheme membership in their tenders.more

Sevenoaks District Council pleaded guilty to safety failings after a member of the public was killed when he collided with a road sweeper. In the incident, which took place in September 2010, a council road sweeper lorry was cleaning the outside of a dual-lane slip road when Derek McCulloch (58) drove into the back of the sweeper on his motorbike. Mr McCulloch was pronounced dead at the scene.more